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Major political parties have strayed from founding principles
– Serving interests of investors instead of citizens – Dr. David Hinds
By Kiana Wilburg
Have the major political parties – the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the People’s National Congress (PNC) – strayed from the core principles and ideologies which were instilled by their revered founders? By and large, they have, says Executive Member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Dr. David Hinds.
The Associate Professor reminded that the PPP was formed in 1950 and the PNC, in 1957. Since then, the world has changed significantly and one can understand how these political forces would undergo change, and even alter some of its principles. But what Dr. Hinds finds disappointing is that the parties have changed their principles not for the better but for the worse. He said the parties have developed a disposition of bending over backwards to serve the interests of investors, be it ExxonMobil or otherwise, instead of the citizens.
The political commentator said that this is a far removal from one of the core principle of these parties, which is to serve the interests of the people first.
WPA Executive Member, Dr. David Hinds
Dr. Hinds said, “The PNC and the PPP have moved the furthest away from their founding principles, because what we have found is that in order to get power, and hold on to it, they had to get into some arrangements which they normally wouldn’t have. So take the PPP for example, it used to call itself a socialist party …but if you look at that party today, there isn’t any commitment at all to that founding ideology”.
The WPA Executive Member said that the PPP “only pays lip service to serving the interest of the working class”. He said that even the PNC used to call itself socialist, but its actions to date, prove beyond the shadow of a doubt, that it has moved far away from that.
“Both parties, I think, have now embraced a kind of free market-neoliberal attitude towards economics. There is no longer that commitment to the working class coming first,” the columnist reiterated.
Dr. Hinds continued, “When it comes to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), both parties we see are falling head over heels to accommodate the interests of companies instead of the people, whether it is to accommodate Exxon or whoever else. And they are prepared to give away as much as they could to these companies.”
He added, “We don’t see the kind of balance that you saw in the early days of independence between interest of the State being protected and that of attracting FDI. It is all about serving the interests of the investors and the policies of these parties are also geared to that too.”
Further to this, Dr. Hinds bemoaned the fact that both parties have failed to support the small business class, but continue to increase the wealth of the big merchant class.
“So we have seen the biggest move, in terms of economics, away from the founding principles by these parties. The WPA has not been in office, so it is very difficult to judge it in that manner… But for those which have been in government, they now embrace the very policies and approaches they fought against in the early years,” Dr. Hinds concluded.
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